Pouring spout for tapping containers



Dec. 23, 1941; Q M. s. LOPES, JR 2,267,159 I POURING SPOUT FOR TAPPINGCONTAINERS Filed March 18, 1939 IN V EN TOR Mfi/YUE'L 5. Z OPEJ JE.

HIS A TTORNEV Patented Dec. 23, 1941 umrso stares parent, crevicePOUERNG sron'r Fon 'rArPIN coN'rAnvEn-s Manuals. Lopes, J12, Alameda,Cal-if. Application March 18, 1939,: Serial No, 262,659

10 Claims. (Cl. 22ll23) This invention relates to devices by means ofwhich sealed packages containing flowable material may betapped and thematerial withdrawn therefrom and directed in a continuous stream into areceiving receptacle.

An object of the invention is to provide a pouring spout which may beinserted into ,a container through a wall thereof in such manner as tocleanly cut in the side wall an opening having a tab of complementalshape hinged to oneside thereof, which tab, in the event that it isdesired to. withdraw. thepouring spout from-the containerbefore thecontents of the latter are entirelyexhausted, may serve to close theopen-.

ing and prevent dirt or othercontaminating matter: from entering the.container, as well as to seal the container until such time as thepour-.

ing spout is replaced.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a deviceof the classdescribed having a spout adapted to pierce the Wall of a container, gripmembers which engage the interior surface of the said wall anda followerwhich engages the exterior surface of the container whereby saidtion isnot to be limited to thespecific formherein shown and described, sincevarious other embodiments thereof may be employed within the scope ofthe appended claims.

With reference to the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of one form of pouringspout of my inventionshowing the spout attached to a sheet of material such as the side wall:of a container, the said sheet of material being shown in section.

Figure2 is a side elevational View of the structure shown in Figure 1. V

Figure 3 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section, of amodified form of pouring spout.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of a paper container for liquidsshowing a still further modified form of pouring spot attached thereto.A portion of the View is omitted to shorten it.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the pouring spout shown in Figure l.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the structure shownin. re.

Figure '7. is an end elevational view of the. struc-, ture shown inFigure 6.

In broad terms, my invention comprises a tu'. bular member adapted to beattached, preferably, to a fiberboard package containingpourablematerial so asto provide a pouring spotthrcugh which thematerial in the package may be dis:

pensed, Cutting meansisprovidedonthe pour-1 ing spout so that, during;the operation of pushing the spout against a surface of the package, a oe in eme ary. to e c s al. form of the spout will lee-pierced through awall of the package. Means isalso provided on the: spoutrwhich limitsthe amount of; the package; wall. that thecutting means may severso-that; a tab of the wall materialis left hinged alonga portion of theperiphery of theopening and-may be swung into the opening Itov close thelatter uponremoval of the spout. Yieldablemeans is provided on the spoutfor. engaging one surface. of the pierced. wall of the package, andmeanspreferably formed unitarily with the spout is provided forengaging, under force. applied by said? yieldable member, the oppositesurface of the pierced wall of the package sothat the said wall will besecurely clampedto the pouring spout in such manner that they may not beeasily separated. I

In greater detail, my improved pouring spout may take a number ofadvantageous forms, oneof' which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 andcomprises a unitary sheet of metal shapedto provide a generallycylindrical tubular spout body i5;-

the oppositeend portions of the sheet which are brought into abuttingrelation along the line 9 being without curvature so. that a chordalflat H is provided extending axially along; and preferably at the topof, the spout body. One end of the spout body is acutely inclined withrespect to the axis of the body to provide sloping cutting edges I?which meet diametrically opposite the line 9 in an extended and sharpcutting point [3.

When the pouring spout is positioned with the cutting point. 13 engaginga surface of a: sheet of material M, representing a side wall of'apref-- erably fiberboard package, and force isapplied manually to thepouring spout, axially of the latter and in a direction perpendicular tothe plane of the sheet I4, the cutting point l3 will" pierce the sheetand, upon continued forcible ad vancement of the pouring spout, thecutting edges [2 will shear from the sheet a flap it which; iscomplemental in form to the cross-sectional" form of the pouringspout;This cutting of the sheet 4 by the cutting edges |2 will cease, however,when the end l! of the chor-dal fiat H is reached thus providing at oneside of the flap 6 an unsevered portion which serves as a hinge l8 forthe flap.

It will be observed that by the provision of the hinge I8, the fiap I6may be caused to move into the opening pierced in the sheet |4 so as toclose the opening against the passage therethrough of contaminatingmatter into the package should the pouring spout be removed before thecontents of the package are completely dispensed.

Means is provided on the spout body 8 for gripping the package sheet I4so as to join the spout body thereto. Spaced around the periphery of thespout body adjacent the cutting end thereof is one or more, three beingthe preferred number, of embossed protuberances I9 which slope, withrespect to the axis of the spout body, outwardly from the said axis andaway from the cutting end of the body and are each sheared, at theirouter end, from the adjacent metal of the spout body to provide one ormore pointed spurs 2|. The radial extent of the spurs 2| is rathersmall, being in the order of L of an inch. It will be seen that as thespout body is pushed axially through the opening cut in the packagesheet l4, and the outwardly sloping protuberances l9 pass therethrough,the resilient fiberboard, of which the sheet M is composed, will becompressed and will, after the protuberances have passed completelythrough the opening, spring radially inwardly of the opening behind theprojecting spurs 2|. The slight radial projection of the protuberancesallows the latter to pass through the opening without materiallydeforming the latter.

Means is provided engaging the surface of the package sheet oppositethat engaged by the'spurs 2| for forcibly urging the spurs against thepackage sheet so that the sharp ends of the spurs will become embeddedin the sheet. Mounted on and for slidable movement axially of the spoutbody is a follower comprising a sleeve 22, surrounding the body, havinga flange 23 formed integrally therewith and extending radially from theend thereof facing the package sheet. A coil spring 24, surrounding andconcentric with the spout body, has one end bearing against the flange23 of the follower and the other end engaging a collar 26 which ismounted on and concentric with the spout body in spaced relation to thefollower and which is fixed against movement axially of the spout bodyby its engagement with a pair of spaced cylindrical hinge eyes 21 whichare provided by tabs formed integrally with and extending from the endof the spout body. These hinge eyes provide journals for and engagehinge tabs 28 formed on and extending tangentially in oppositedirections from the periphery of a circular flap 29 which serves as apivoted closure for that end of the pouring spout which extendsexteriorly of the package. It will be seen that the spring 24, in urgingthe follower against the exterior surface of the package sheet, willforcibly draw the sharp ends of the spurs 2| into engagement with theinner surface of the sheet causing the spur ends to bite into the sheetand thus firmly secure, against easy displacement, the pouring spout tothe package.

In order to facilitate, as much as possible, the flow of material fromthe interior of the package into the inner end of the pouring spout, Iprovide one or more feed openings 3| in the inner end of the spout body.

In Figure 3 I have illustrated a materially Simplified form of myinvention. Here I replace the coil spring 24 with a collar 32 ofresilient material, preferably sponge rubber, which is backed by ametallic washer 33 held against movement axially of the spout body by aplurality of protuberances 34 which are embossed raidally outwardly fromthe metal of the spout body. The rubber washer, of course, functions inthe manner of the spring, to forcibly press the spurs 2| against thesurface of the package sheet.

In Figures 4 to '7 inclusive, I have shown a further modified form of mypouring spout particularly adapted to packages containing fluids.Referring to Figure 5, I provide a piece of sheet metal which may berolled about a suitable mandrel so as to bring the opposite ends of thesheet into abutting relation along the line 36 to provide a tubular body31 having at one end a piercing point 38 and inclined cutting edges 39,similar to the cutting end of the pouring spouts previously described,and one or more gripping spurs 4| also similar to those previouslydescribed. Disposed intermediate the ends of the body 31 are pairs ofembossed protuberances 42 which extend radially outwardly from'theperiphery of the body and are spaced axially therealong so that a gap ofpredetermined width is provided between each pair of the protuberances.i

A resilient follower is provided, comprising asubstantially U-shapedmember having a fixed leg 43, a movable leg 44, and an integral bridgeportion 46 joining the legs together at one'end.

7 Both the fixed and movable legs are provided with alined apertures,the aperture 41 of the movable leg being slightly larger than that of'the fixed leg so as to permit free movement of the spout body in theaperture as the leg 44 is moved. The aperture of the fixed leg, which isonly sufficiently larger than the spout body so that the latter mayslide therethrough, is provided witha pair of radially extending notches48, see Fig-;

tuberances will be finally located midway be-- tween the notches 48 andthe leg 43 will thus be firmly secured to the spout body. The gapbetween the protuberances will, of course, have to be slightly less thanthe thickness ofthe sheet material from which the U-shaped member is,

constructed so that the resultingtight frictional engagement between thefixed leg and'spout body will be suflicient to prevent easy rotationalmove-f ment between the parts. r

While the type of pouring spout just described may be used to dispenseany kindv of pourable material from packages which may be pierced by thespout, I intend it to be used in conjunction with the new types offiberboard milk containers 49 one of which is shown in Figure 4. Sincethe advent of this type of milk container, users who have made apractice of removing the topcream from the milk find it quite difiicultto now remove the cream. The factor contributing most tothis situationis not so much, the inability of the user to see the cream level in thenewcontainer as his inability to insert intoi'the container thedifferent types of stopples or bafiles which have long been on themarket and were designed for use with the ordinary type of milk bottles.last described form of my invention discounts this difficulty to a largeextent. By inserting the pouring spout, as shown in Figure l, where hebelieves the cream line should be, the user may drain most of the creamfrom the container without agitating the remainder of the milk andpossibly diluting the cream. After serving as a cream extractor, thepouring spout may be left attached to the container to serve duringsubsequent pourings. When once in place the flexed resilient leg '44securely clamps the container wall between such leg and the spurs M andfunctions to retain the spout firmly in position.

It will be observed that the pouring spout of my invention isconstructed entirely without the use of solder. Thus the likelihood oftiny pieces of lead becoming mixed with the food is eliminated as isalso the danger of the contents of the package becoming contaminated bycontact with soldered joints that are usually provided in pouring spoutsof this type.

I claim:

1. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, saidtubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularlywith respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutteradapted to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental inform to the cross-sectional form' of the tubular member and throughwhich said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality ofprotuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the peripheryof said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member andshearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the memberso as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cuttingend of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberancesthrough the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, beingengageable with the inner surface of said package wall, a followerslidably mounted on said tubular memher and engageable with the oppositeexterior surface of the package wall, resilient means for urging thefollower against said package wall so as to clamp said wall between thefollower and said spurs, and means pivotally mounted at an end of saidtubular member and forming a closure therefor.

2. A pouring spout for attachment to packages'of pourable materialcomprising a'unit sheet of material curved to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a cylindrical tubularmember, said sheet of material having portions thereof paralleling saidabutting edges uncurved so as to provide, on the periphery of the formedtubular member, a chordal flat area extending longitudinally of andentirely along said member, the plane of one end of said tubular memberbeing inclined with respect to the axis of the latter, said planeintersecting said chordal fiat area and sloping toward the end of themember to form at the said end a sharp cutting point, diametricallyopposed to said chordal :flat, and curved portions of the tubular memberforming cutters extending from said point and terminating at theintersection of said plane with said chordal flat area, said point andcutters cooperating, when the tubular member is forcibly pressed axiallyand perpendicularly against the .package wall, to cut in said wall acurved slit The complemental in contour with the contour of said curvedportions forming the cutters and forming .a flap in said package wallclosing the opening in said wall bounded by said slit and hinged alongone side of the opening by an uncut portion of the package wallcomplemental with said chordal flat and extending linearly between theopposite ends of said slit, means forming integral portions of saidtubular element extending radially therefrom, passable through saidopening and engage- .able with the interior surface of said packagewall, and resilient means on said tubular member and positionedexteriorly of said package for urging said wall-engaging means into enggement with said wall.

3. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of .pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material curved to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a cylindrical tubularmember, said sheet of material having portions thereof paralleling said,abutting edges uncurved so as to provide, on the periphery of the formedtubular member, a chordal flat area extending longitudinally of andentirely along said member, the plane of one end of said tubular memberbeing inclined with respect to the axis of the latter, said planeintersecting said chordal flat area and sloping toward the end 'of themember to form at the said end a sharp cutting point, diametricallyopposed to said chordal flat, and curved portions of the tubular memberforming cutters extending from said point and terminating at theintersection of said plane with said chordal flat area, said point andcutters cooperating, when the tubular member is forcibly press-edaxially and perpendicularly against the package Wall, to cut in saidwall a curved slit complemental incontour with the contour of saidcurved portions forming the cutters and forming a flap in said packagewallclosing the opening in said wall bounded by said slit and hingedalong one side of the opening by an uncut portion of the package wallcomplemental with said chordal flat and extending linearly between theopposite ends of said slit, means forming integral portions of saidtubular element extending radially therefrom, passable through saidopening and engageabl with the interior surface of said package wall, acollar mounted concentrically on and slidable along said tubular member,said slidable collar having at one end thereof 'a radially extendingflange for engaging the outer surface of said package wall, a fixedcollar on and concentric with said tubular member and disposed in spacedrelation to said slidable collar, a coil spring surrounding said tubularmember and engaging, at its respective ends, said fixed collar and theflange of said slidable collar, a pair of wings rising from an end ofsaid tubular member and formed to provide tubular eyes engaging saidfixed collar, and a closure flap covering an end of said tubular memberand provided with tabs journaled in said eyes.

4. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, saidtubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularlywith re spect to the central axis of the member so as to tuberancesformed by embossing radially outwardly, from the periphery of saidtubular member, integral wall portions of said member and shearing eachprotuberance at one end from the main body of the member and along anundulating line so as to provide at said end of the protuberance one ormore sharp spurs facing away from the cutting end of said tubularmember, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberances through theopening in the package wall formedby said cutter, being engageable withthe inner surface of said package wall, a follower slidably mounted onsaid tubular member and engageable with the opposite exterior surface ofthe package wall, resilient means on said tubular member and operativelyconnected with said follower for urging the latter against the packagewall so as to clamp said wall between the follower and said spurs, and aflap pivotally mounted at an end of said tubular member and movable toclose said end of the tubular member.

5. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, saidtubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularlywith respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutteradapted to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental inform to the cross-sectional form of the tubular member and through whichsaid member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality ofprotuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the peripheryof said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member andshearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the memberso as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cuttingend of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberancesthrough the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, beingengageable with the inner surface of said package wall, and unitresilient means on said tubular member and engageable with the oppositexterior surface of the package wall for urging said spurs against theinner surface of said package wall.

6. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, saidtubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularlywith respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutteradapted to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental inform to the cross-sectional form of the tubular mem ber and throughwhich said member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality ofprotuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the peripheryof said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member andshearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the memberso as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cuttingend of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberancesthrough the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, beingengageabl with the inner surface of said package wall, a washer ofcompressible material on said tubular member and engageable with theopposite exterior surface of the package wall, a rigid washer mounted onsaid tubular member and engaging said compressible washer, and means forconnecting said tubular member and said rigid washer together againstrelative movement. 1

7. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, saidtubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularlywith respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutteradapted to pierce,'in a wall of said package, an opening complemental inform to the cross-sectional form of the tubular member and through whichsaid member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality ofprotuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the peripheryof said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member andshearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the memberso as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cuttingend of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberancesthrough the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, beingengageable with the inner surface of said package wall, and an integralresilient member having a fixed portion thereof secured to said tubularmember and a movable portion thereof relatively movable with respect tosaid tubular member, said relatively movable portion being engageablewith the exterior surface of said package wall.

8. A pouring spout for attachment to packages of pourable materialcomprising a unit sheet of material formed to bring opposite edgesthereof into abutting relation so as to provide a tubular member, saidtubular member having the plane of one end thereof disposed angularlywith respect to the central axis of the member so as to provide a cutteradapted'to pierce, in a wall of said package, an opening complemental inform to the cross-sectional form of the tubular member and through whichsaid member may be moved to enter said package, a plurality ofprotuberances formed by embossing radially outwardly, from the peripheryof said tubular member, integral wall portions of said member andshearing each protuberance at one end from the main body of the memberso as to provide at said end a sharp spur facing away from the cuttingend of the member, said spurs, upon passage of said protuberancesthrough the opening in the package wall formed by said cutter, beingengageable with the inner surface of said package wall, an integralpiece of spring metal bent into substantially U-form and provided with apair of substantially parallel legs, one of said legs having therein anaperture through which said tubular member is freely movable and whichis adapted to engage the exterior surface of said package wall, and theother of'said legs having therein an aperture through which said tubularmember passes, means for securing said other of the legs to said tubularmember comprising a pair of alined and spaced protuberances extendingradially from the periphery of said'tubular member between which saidother leg is positioned, and said aperture in said other leg having anotch extending radially therefrom through which said protuberances maypass.

'9;A pouring spout for tapping a container comprising a cylindrical tubehaving a cutting end for piercing a wall of said container, a spurrising above the normal surface of said tube and having a relativelysharp point extending away from the cutting end'of said tube forengaging the inner face of the pierced wall of said container, meansslidably'mounted on said tube for engaging the outer face of said wall,and resilient means for urging said slidable means toward said spur toclamp said wall against the point thereof.

10. A pouring spout for tapping a container comprising a cylindricaltube having a cutting end for piercing a wall of said container, a spurrising above the normal surface of said tube and having a relativelysharp point extending away from the cutting end of said tube forengaging the inner face of the pierced wall of said container, a washerslidably mounted on said tube and adapted for engagement with the outerface of said wall, and a spring disposed on said tube for resilientlyurging said washer toward the point of said spur to clamp said wallthereagainst.

MANUEL S. LOPES, JR.

